The announcement made in the Independence Day broadcast by President Tinubu, that the Senate President and Chief Justice of Nigeria were awarded GCON, while the speaker and deputy senate president were conferred with CFR, has been rejected by the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives has requested President Bola Tinubu to confer the same national honour on its Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, as was conferred on Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The House rejected the description of being the “lower chamber” compared to the Senate, stating that Messrs Akpabio and Tajudeen are “first among equals.”
It also constituted an ad hoc committee, chaired by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, to look into the issue and report to the House within three days.
These resolutions followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Philip Agbese (APC, Benue) and supported by the 359 members of the House.
In his Independence Day broadcast, President Tinubu announced that the Senate President and Chief Justice of Nigeria were awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), while Messrs Tajudeen and Barau were conferred with the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).
Additionally, Mr Kalu was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
Presenting the motion, Mr Agbese vehemently rejected the concept of the House being subservient to the Senate, describing the differences in national honour as “discriminatory.”
“There is an ongoing and inappropriate culture of discrimination against the House of Representatives, often portrayed as inferior to the Senate, through language that consistently refers to the Senate as the ‘upper chamber’ and the House of Representatives as a ‘lower chamber’. This terminology misrepresents the legal status of both chambers and diminishes the House’s standing,” Mr Agbese said.
He also rejected the description of the senate president as the “chairman of the National Assembly,” stating that the term is unknown to the Constitution.
Speaking in support of the motion, Sada Soli (APC, Katsina) reiterated the view that both chambers are equal, and honour given to any of the presiding officers should be equal.
He stated that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who served as the Speaker of the Ninth Assembly, also complained when he was given a lesser title compared to the Senate president.
Mr Soli also questioned the president’s decision to give the GCON honour to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), despite the CJN ranking lower than the Speaker on the protocol list.
“This is not about Abbas Tajudeen, this is about the fourth person in the protocol of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is about equal chambers as enshrined in the Constitution.
“According to protocol, the speaker is fourth, and the CJN comes after. Today, the CJN is given the award of a GCON, which is a misnomer,” he said.
To strengthen his argument, Mr Soli bemoaned the award of GCON to businessmen while the same honour was difficult to give to the speaker.
“I remember that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was a minister in this country, was given the award of a GCON. I don’t think she attained the status of the fourth person in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Michael Adenuga is a businessman and a private citizen, and he was given the honour of GCON, so too was Aliko Dangote, a businessman profiting from his ventures, yet also given GCON.
“I could recall that on 23 September 2021, the present Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, then the Speaker of the 9th Assembly, wrote to the Minister of Special Duties to correct this anomaly,” he said.
Former Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau) informed the House that the tussle has been ongoing for a while, noting that the leadership of the House in the Ninth Assembly fought the same battle but failed.
“We are not subservient to any legislative arm; we are supposed to be on par in terms of functions. Where we are getting it wrong is with the ‘Chairman of the National Assembly’ title. It is not known to the Constitution. This has given rise to what is happening now.
“Last time this occurred, the leadership then sat and discussed it, and even decided that we should return the award. A letter was communicated, but I think we should follow up. When the list was released, I had to look at it and concluded that the right thing had not been done,” Mr Wase said.
In his contribution, Abdulmummin Jibrin (NNPP, Kano) called for caution, stating that the views expressed on the matter could be misconstrued by many as a “fight for the title” and appealed for a more diplomatic solution.
Mr Jibrin also questioned the power of confirmation of appointments given to the Senate, stating that the House is a better representation of Parliament than the Senate, which is a product of “equality”.
“We don’t want a situation where the press will report that the House is fighting for titles. It is a broader issue. We want the narrative to reach the public in the right way. There is no disparity between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“Over the years, a wrong perception and impression have been created, and we need to correct that immediately. There is no such thing as an upper chamber and a lower chamber. The essence of the Senate is equality. But the broader representation is the House of Representatives, which is based on landmass and population.
“If you are talking about the better representation of what the National Assembly stands for, it is the House of Representatives. We are reminding them to confer upon any speaker the proper honour. I do not understand why we leave it to the Senate,” Mr Jibrin said.
Several other members who spoke on the motion supported it.
Speaking on the motion, Cyril Hart (PDP, Rivers) referred to the National Honours Act of 1964, which states that only two GCON awards can be given in a single year.
Mr Hart said that given the legal impasse, the CJN should be stripped of the honour, and it should be given to the Speaker.
“What this simply means is that if the senate president has been given one, our resolution should include that the CJN should relinquish his honour to the speaker, or any speaker until we amend this Act,” Mr Hart said.
However, this argument was countered by Mr Wase, who stated that the House should not concern itself with the process of getting it done.
Consequently, the House called for an amendment to the National Honours Act of 1964 to appropriately recognise the Speaker of the House of Representatives as co-head of the National Assembly and, accordingly, confer the national honour of GCON on the speaker, ensuring parity in recognition with the president of the Senate.
The lawmakers said this should be accomplished before the formal decoration by Mr President.
The House also called on all government institutions, officials, and the media to be mindful of language and titles that suggest a hierarchical structure between the Senate and the House of Representatives or their respective leaders.
Meanwhile, the president was urged to uphold the spirit of bicameral equality as enshrined in the Constitution when making decisions and recommendations that concern the leadership of the National Assembly.
Furthermore, they directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to ensure that all communications, orders, and publications from the National Assembly henceforth refer to both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate as co-heads of the National Assembly.
When the motion, as amended, was put to a vote by Speaker Tajudeen, the lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in support of it.
